Dierks Bentley

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from three Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 20 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board. It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as all three categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Luke Combs +1

Kane Brown (#1 Streaming) -1

Dan + Shay (#1 Digital Songs) +1

Florida Georgia Line -1

Chris Stapleton (#1 Album) +1

Thomas Rhett 0

Jason Aldean +1

Bebe Rexha -1

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Eric Church +1

Lauren Alaina +1

Brett Young -1

Carrie Underwood 0

Tim McGraw +1

Old Dominion +1

Sam Hunt 0

Jon Pardi +1

Jimmie Allen +1

Zac Brown Band +1

Jake Owen -1

The Ultimate Pulse: +5

The Ultimate Pulse improves two spots to +5 this week, another new all-time high. There was a ton of movement again this week, with yet another five artist swing in arrivals and dismissals. Bentley once again drops in album sales, which is tradition at this point. Rascal Flatts couldn’t maintain their impressive sales and probably won’t recoup them. Swindell has almost consistently lost traction since his album release and will need his next single to be a hit to rebound. Tritt and Loretta were both expected to only last a week.

Luke Combs is the new #1 this week, his second reign at the top of the chart. He just edges out Kane Brown by about the same margin Brown edged out Combs in last week’s chart. It’s impressive how Combs consistently maintains his numbers, as they never waver and stay in the same vicinity every week, whereas Brown’s numbers ebb and flow in sales. Brown’s streaming numbers are more consistent than anybody though.

At this point Dan + Shay have essentially replaced Florida Georgia Line in The Big Three at the top. They’ve got a large lead on Florida Georgia Line now and have also taken over the #1 Digital Song sales spot. They’re also nipping at the heels of Combs and Brown. If they can just increase their streaming number a little bit, they have a great shot at the #1 spot.

As Florida Georgia Line has dropped, Chris Stapleton makes a solid gain this week and almost had enough to pass the duo for the #4 spot. This is thanks to his current single “Millionaire” starting to make a dent in sales. If it can continue to rise in sales with it, he just may move to #4 in the coming weeks.

Mitchell Tenpenny continues to steadily gain every week in sales and streaming with his single “Drunk Me,” rising to #9 this week. He’s also just announced his debut album release and opened pre-orders, so this will help his gains even more. While I hate the song, you can’t deny it’s a true hit.

As expected Eric Church re-enters the chart this week and in a big way, breaking into the top ten. In a crowded album release schedule, Church did great sales with his excellent album Desperate Man. For the first time he also gets streaming help, as the title track debuted on the Country Streaming Songs chart. Equally surprising, the song fell off the sales chart, which makes no sense considering I haven’t seen it fall from its current position on iTunes.

Nevertheless, Church should be able to hang around this spot on the chart due to his albums always selling through well and the chart being pretty weak right now.

Lauren Alaina rises to #11 thanks to the sales of her new single. I’ll be curious to see if she makes a streaming impact.

Brett Young continues to hemorrhage sales and streaming, falling out of the top ten. It’s clear at this point that there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around his new single. But I’m sure this won’t stop the industry and media from gas lighting everyone into thinking it’s a hit when it tops the radio chart.

Tim McGraw makes his debut on The Ultimate Pulse at #14, thanks to the sales of his new songs. I imagine he should be able to maintain sales for “Neon Church,” allowing him to stay on the chart.

Old Dominion makes their return to The Ultimate Pulse, thanks to the sales of their new single “Make It Sweet.” It’s selling well and seems to be resonating with listeners, so they should be able to stick around on the chart. I wouldn’t be surprised if they garnered some streaming traction too.

Jake Owen makes his debut on The Ultimate Pulse at the final spot on the chart, thanks to the sales of his single “Down to the Honkytonk.” This looks like it will be a hit for him. It’s been a while since Owen has had a true hit and not a radio hit. Unfortunately I do not like this song at all. It’s some of the cheapest, laziest songwriting I’ve heard this year. It panders so hard toward traditionalists. The song relies on tired references to get you hooked, not to mention the hook itself is repeated too much.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 20

Cole Swindell

Blake Shelton

Dierks Bentley

Taylor Swift

Brothers Osborne

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from three Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 20 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board. It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as all three categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

The Ultimate Pulse: +3

The Ultimate Pulse improves one spot to +3 this week, a new all-time high. There was a ton of movement this week, with a whopping five artist swing in arrivals and dismissals.

The most shocking artist to be gone is Luke Bryan, someone you expect to not fall off this chart. But “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” wasn’t a big hit. As a result sales and streams have tanked pretty hard. Kenny Chesney’s numbers have tanked too, as his new single is struggling to gain traction so far. Eric Church’s fall off is temporary of course, as his new album just dropped and he’ll be back on The Ultimate Pulse chart next week. Expect my review of that album soon.

Kane Brown remains at #1 for a second-straight week. The sales of another new single from his upcoming album helps him just maintain a slight edge over Luke Combs at #2. Next week it’ll be neck and neck between the two for the top spot. Streaming will probably determine who gets it.

Dan + Shay are so close to the top two, yet their numbers appear maxed for now. So they’ll just stay out of reach.

Jason Aldean has continued to lose in digital sales and streaming, but maintains his spot thanks to strong album sales and the great streaming numbers of “You Make It Easy.” Like Bryan and Chesney, Aldean is also struggling to get traction with his new single in streaming and sales.

Thomas Rhett is essentially in the same boat as the aforementioned artists.

My Eldredge theory for Brett Young continues to feel spot-on. Expect Mitchell Tenpenny to overtake him soon if Young keeps free-falling.

As you can see there’s not much excitement in the top 11 of the chart. But then the chaos starts at #12 with Dierks Bentley. Once again he bounces back up in the top 20 because his album sales boomeranged back up in sales. It makes no sense!

Rascal Flatts makes their debut on The Ultimate Pulse thanks to great sales of their new single. This surprised me a lot. Who knew they could still get this much traction in 2018? Unsurprisingly, the song bores me. It feels like a watered-down combination of “You Make It Easy” and a recent Dan + Shay single.

Veteran Travis Tritt makes his debut on The Ultimate Pulse thanks to the strong sales of “Help Me Hold On.” The sales spiked thanks to it being performed on The Voice. So I guess that show is good for something. Despite my issues with Tritt’s attitude, this song and his music in general is still great.

The legendary Loretta Lynn makes her debut on The Ultimate Pulse thanks to the sales of her new album. It’s pretty cool to see both Dolly Parton and Lynn making appearances on the chart within weeks of each other. I’m glad my proclamation that this chart is inclusive of older artists is remaining true.

Lauren Alaina has hung around in the top 20 for weeks thanks to being featured on “What Ifs” and next week it will pay off big, as she should get a boost on the chart from sales of her new single “Ladies In The ’90s.”

The last debut on The Ultimate Pulse this week is Jimmie Allen. Now remember when I said if airplay is effective it will show in sales and/or streaming in a significant way? His debut single “Best Shot” is demonstrating just that, as his airplay has gained so has both his sales and streaming. He’s getting numbers from both categories. And it’s a good song to boot! The only reason I haven’t reviewed it yet is because his debut album is dropping soon and I want to hear it to possibly review it, which I could then cover the song in it.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 20

Eric Church

Jon Pardi

Kenny Chesney

Jake Owen

Old Dominion

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from three Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 20 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board. It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as all three categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Kane Brown (#1 Digital Songs & #1 Streaming) -1

Luke Combs +1

Dan + Shay +1

Florida Georgia Line -1

Chris Stapleton (#1 Album) +1

Jason Aldean +1

Thomas Rhett -1

Brett Young -1

Bebe Rexha -1

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Carrie Underwood 0

Sam Hunt 0

Cole Swindell 0

Kenny Chesney +1

Luke Bryan 0

Lauren Alaina 0

Jon Pardi +1

Zac Brown Band +1

Miranda Lambert 0

Eric Church +1

The Ultimate Pulse: +2

Notes & Observations

New Arrivals: Lauren Alaina, Jon Pardi & Zac Brown Band

Gone: Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton & Sia

The Ultimate Pulse stays the same at +2 this week. As expected Dolly Parton and Sia drop off, as they were on the chart thanks to the great first week sales of “Here I Am.” And of course Dierks Bentley’s album sales dive again. Next week they will spike again based on the last month of this feature.

Kane Brown is the new #1 this week, taking back the top spot from Luke Combs for his second appearance at the top of the chart. Brown re-takes the spot thanks to a big increase in both digital song sales and streaming. He’ll get another increase next week thanks to the release of another single, so I highly expect him to remain #1.

Luke Combs falls to #2 based solely on Brown’s gains, as he maintained his numbers from last week.

The big surprise of the week is Dan + Shay knocking off Florida Georgia Line from the #3 spot. While Florida Georgia Line has remained essentially static in their numbers, Dan + Shay continue to see great increasing sales and streaming from their current and previous singles. Their album sales are still good too. If their next single manages to do similar numbers, they will challenge the top two.

Chris Stapleton enters the top five for the first time this week thanks to a surprisingly big bump in sales of “Tennessee Whiskey.” It’s consistently charted in the teens on the digital song sales chart for the last several months, but for some reason it took off this past week to put it back in the top five. The only explanations I can come up with: somebody performed it on The Voice, Farm Aid, or Stapleton’s recent appearances at Timberlake concerts.

As expected Brett Young’s digital sales normalized to bring him down this week. But it’s interesting how the sales of his new single immediately dropped. It’s early, but his situation eerily reminds me of Brett Eldredge when he took off. Both had great success early in their careers with what I would call mellow ballads. But Eldredge couldn’t consistently replicate it with more upbeat singles. Young is showing the same early with his new single. It’s something to keep an eye on.

Mitchell Tenpenny finally makes the top ten. He should stay in the top ten too. But at the same time his numbers feel like they’ve peaked. The performance of his next single will let us know if he’s here to stay or a one-hit wonder.

Carrie Underwood’s numbers normalize and she only falls to #11. While last week was glass-half empty with her small album release bump, this week it’s glass-half full in that means only a small drop. Her album sales are going to be great for a while, so expect her to hang around the 10-15 range on the chart.

Cole Swindell rises back up to the top 15 this week thanks to seeing modest increases in album sales and streaming.

Lauren Alaina is back in the top 20 because “What Ifs” is still streaming well. This is what happens when you have a true hit and not a radio hit; you remain on the streaming charts for a long time. I should point out this isn’t a shot directed at Alaina or any artist in particular. I would just be remiss to not point this out, as I continue to prove the worthlessness of radio.

Jon Pardi’s California Sunrise continues to have good sales, allowing him to make the top 20. You have to wonder why his label didn’t decide for him to release a new single, instead of a fifth single off that album. Fifth singles almost never do well in sales and streaming.

Zac Brown Band’s greatest hits album is in the same boat in album sales. It’s a bit ridiculous to see this group make the top 20 based on the fact their last album flopped and the previous had a mixed reception. But at the same time it highlights the impact they’ve had in the past, the amount of fans they still have and really the lack of interest in several other acts.

Eric Church barely hangs onto the top 20, as his digital song sales normalized. He could possibly fall off before his album drops, but with his album sales always being strong he’ll safely be in the top 20 after it drops.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 20

Jake Owen

Dierks Bentley

Old Dominion

Jimmie Allen

Brothers Osborne

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from three Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 20 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board. It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as all three categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Luke Combs (#1 Streaming) +1

Kane Brown -1

Florida Georgia Line (#1 Digital Songs) -1

Dan + Shay +1

Brett Young -1

Chris Stapleton +1

Jason Aldean +1

Bebe Rexha -1

Carrie Underwood (#1 Album) 0

Thomas Rhett -1

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Eric Church +1

Sam Hunt 0

Dierks Bentley -1

Dolly Parton +1

Sia +1

Kenny Chesney +1

Luke Bryan 0

Cole Swindell +1

Miranda Lambert 0

The Ultimate Pulse: +2

Notes & Observations

New Arrivals: Dierks Bentley, Dolly Parton & Sia

Gone: Old Dominion, Russell Dickerson & Dylan Scott

The Ultimate Pulse improves a whopping three spots to +2 this week. Who would have thought removing country radio from the equation would be a good thing for country music? Anyone paying attention, that’s who. As you can see I’ve also culled down the ranking from top 25 to top 20, due to one less category and the fact the bottom five I felt didn’t really have much of an effect. So if you’re wondering if that helped The Ultimate Pulse this week, it wouldn’t because it would still be the same if I included them. The arrivals and departures are based solely on the top 20 from last week. All of the departures were majorly propped up by radio. So shocking!

Luke Combs is the new #1 this week and the third different artist to top the chart. This was weeks in the making, as Combs’ steaming numbers are fantastic. He managed to somehow increase them more this week, which I didn’t think was possible. Combined with his almost equally great sales, Combs is poised to be a superstar in country music for years to come and I’m perfectly good with this, as his brand of country music is a good representative of the genre.

Kane Brown and Florida Georgia Line tied for #2 this week, but Brown gets the spot based on tiebreaker rules (he beats the duo in both streaming and album sales). Brown’s numbers normalize this week after the big bump he got from pre-orders and the sales of his new single. As you can see the top three don’t need radio and were unaffected by the chart change.

Brett Young jumps into the top five this week thanks to opening pre-orders for his new album and the good sales of his new single. If he wants to compete with the top four, his streaming numbers will need to improve.

Chris Stapleton and Jason Aldean tied for #6 this week, but Stapleton gets the spot based on tiebreaker rules. Stapleton is putting up strong numbers several months after dropping new music because that’s what happens when you have true hits. I can’t imagine the big numbers he will put up when the next album drops.

Aldean and Miranda Lambert continue to drop due to the dropping sales of “Whiskey Drowns the Memory.” But on the other hand “You Make It Easy” continues to sell and stream well for Aldean.

Bebe Rexha and Carrie Underwood tied for #8 this week, but Rexha gets the spot based on tiebreaker rules. Yeah I wish she would drop off the chart, but while she’s still on it I have to count her.

Carrie Underwood rises just to #9 with her album bump. I honestly expected more. She still manages to take the #1 Album spot from Stapleton though. I don’t expect her to maintain this top ten position long, as her sales don’t appear to stay for the long haul and she has zero streaming help.

Eric Church makes a big jump up to #12 this week thanks to sales from “Monsters.” He’ll drop back down next week.

Dierks Bentley is back again because once again his album sales spiked. If anyone has an explanation for why his album sales jump up and down, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter. I want to figure this out!

Dolly Parton and Sia make their debuts on The Ultimate Pulse! It’s awesome to have the queen of country music make an appearance, as well as a pop singer in Sia I have a great respect towards. They make their debuts thanks to the great sales of their re-recording of Parton’s smash hit “Here I Am” for the move Dumplin’. If you haven’t heard it yet, please check it out. I’ve also added it to the Fusion Country Favorites playlist.

Willie Nelson should have joined them this week, but Billboard did what I feared and put his new album My Way on the Top Jazz Albums chart. It’s pretty stupid considering Willie is country and it’s advertised as such on iTunes. Meanwhile Upchurch’s album was advertised as hip-hop on iTunes, but impacts the country albums chart. If anything Willie’s album should have debuted on both jazz and country.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 20

Lauren Alaina

Jon Pardi

Jake Owen

Zac Brown Band

Old Dominion

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from four Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales, Airplay and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 25 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board, whether the artist is strong at radio (Chris Lane, Dustin Lynch) or album sales (Chris Stapleton). It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as three of the four categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Kane Brown (#1 Digital Songs) -1

Luke Combs (#1 Streaming) +1

Florida Georgia Line -1

Dan + Shay +1

Jason Aldean +1

Thomas Rhett -1

Chris Stapleton (#1 Album) +1

Brett Young -1

Luke Bryan (#1 Airplay) 0

Miranda Lambert 0

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Old Dominion 0

Bebe Rexha -1

Cole Swindell +1

Carrie Underwood 0

Sam Hunt 0

Kenny Chesney +1

Eric Church +1

Dylan Scott -1

Russell Dickerson -1

Upchurch -1

Chris Janson +1

Lauren Alaina 0

Chris Young -1

Jon Pardi +1

The Ultimate Pulse: -1

Notes & Observations

New Arrivals: Upchurch, Jon Pardi

Gone: Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks

The Ultimate Pulse remains the same at -1 this week. This is despite two new departures off the chart. Dierks Bentley’s album sales once again take a big dive and it’s enough to drive him out of the top 25. I continue to be confounded as to why his album sales are a rollercoaster. Garth Brooks falls out because if you rise by airplay, you fall by airplay too.

Kane Brown is the new #1 this week and the second artist to top the chart since the beginning of the Pulse, ending Florida Georgia Line’s four-week run at the top. This was expected, as Brown opened up pre-orders for his new upcoming album and released a new song too, which greatly spiked his digital song sales. I can see Brown maintaining this spot next week, but it’s going to be much tighter and dependent on how fast Brown’s pop rating normalizes.

Luke Combs continues to solidify himself at #2 and is set up nicely to have his shot at #1 really soon. Combs also surprisingly takes the top streaming spot away this week, just edging out Brown. He just continues to pick up steam in streaming and the battle between him and Brown will continue to be tight for top streamer.

Florida Georgia Line falls to #3 this week, even though their pop rating remains basically static. The duo’s streaming numbers remain impressive, but they’re simply getting outpaced by Brown and Combs’ monster pace in streaming at the moment.

Dan + Shay are pretty solidly #4 for the time being and remain in a great position to break up the Big Three above them in the future once they start receiving significant airplay help.

Both Jason Aldean and Thomas Rhett should lose airplay help next week as they’re set to go recurrent. This will cause both to drop, but Rhett’s drop will be more noticeable. Both are working new singles, so expect them to rebound of course. These drops should help you see how reliant each artist is on airplay based on how far each drop. It widely varies.

Chris Stapleton makes a jump up to #7 this week thanks to his continually steady numbers, plus Brett Young seeing losses in both sales and streaming. Stapleton actually nearly passed Rhett this week and is guaranteed to pass him next week.

Young sees losses this week, but will see a boost next week thanks to opening pre-orders on his new album and his new single selling well.

Mitchell Tenpenny rises to #11 this week, as his ascent into the top 10 is nearly complete. He was just a few pop rating points shy of passing Miranda Lambert. The big question now is how far can he climb into the top ten?

Old Dominion and Bebe Rexha tied for #12 this week, but Old Dominion gets the spot based on tiebreaker rules (they have three categories of strength versus Rexha’s two categories). The group rises a few spots this week thanks more to artists have losses in front of them rather than making gains themselves.

Cole Swindell continues to fall, as he retained very little of the big boost from his album release. The sales and streaming performance of his next single will largely determine if he can make a move back up the chart.

Carrie Underwood jumps up to #15 this week thanks to the great sales of “End Up With You.” She’ll get her album boost next week and it will propel her into the top ten. I’ll be interested to see how deep into the top ten she can get, as digital song sales will largely determine this along with any possible streaming help.

Kenny Chesney falls five spots to #17 this week, as his sales and streaming numbers for “Get Along” fell even more. While many artists towards the top of the chart have been able to maintain their sales and streaming on singles that have went recurrent, Chesney’s nose-dived as soon as he lost airplay. So Chesney is either more tied to airplay than other artists or this song finally stagnated with listeners.

So Upchurch makes his Ultimate Pulse debut at #21 this week thanks to his new album Supernatural. Yeah I didn’t see this coming either. While I don’t like his brand of country hip-hop, he did pull off a smart little trick to help him on the Top Country Albums chart. Instead of releasing his new album on Friday like everybody else, he released it on the old music release day of Tuesday. This gave him a few extra days of sales, which undoubtedly gave him a boost and allow him to chart even higher. Independent country artists should take note of this.

The other new arrival Jon Pardi also makes his debut on The Ultimate Pulse thanks to album sales. His sophomore album California Sunrise continues to sell well years later and if he can get any help from his current single “Night Shift” he can climb higher on the chart.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 25

Garth Brooks

Jake Owen

Maren Morris

Blake Shelton

Dierks Bentley

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from four Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales, Airplay and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 25 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board, whether the artist is strong at radio (Chris Lane, Dustin Lynch) or album sales (Chris Stapleton). It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as three of the four categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Florida Georgia Line (#1 Digital Songs) -1

Luke Combs +1

Kane Brown (#1 Streaming) -1

Dan + Shay +1

Jason Aldean +1

Thomas Rhett -1

Brett Young -1

Chris Stapleton (#1 Album) +1

Luke Bryan (#1 Airplay) 0

Miranda Lambert 0

Bebe Rexha -1

Kenny Chesney +1

Cole Swindell +1

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Old Dominion 0

Dierks Bentley 0

Sam Hunt 0

Carrie Underwood 0

Eric Church +1

Dylan Scott -1

Chris Janson +1

Russell Dickerson -1

Chris Young -1

Lauren Alaina 0

Garth Brooks 0

The Ultimate Pulse: -1

Notes & Observations

New Arrivals: None

Gone: None

The pulse declines one spot to -1 this week. Due to a slow week in movement on three of the four Billboard charts, there are no new arrivals or departures. The pulse however drops one as I’ve once again changed Dierks Bentley’s score. Again it’s changing based on his album sales seesawing back and forth, affecting his pop rating’s influence. So I decided I’m just going to leave it at 0 for now.

Florida Georgia Line barely hangs on to the #1 spot for the fourth straight week. As expected their numbers returned back to normal levels this week. But they just barely hold on and will most likely lose it next week.

Luke Combs just missed the top spot this week, coming within a handful of points of knocking off Florida Georgia Line. He did it by essentially holding steady in his gains across all categories. However I would not expect him to get #1 next week…

Kane Brown solidifies himself at #3 and makes one of the bigger gains on the chart in terms of pop rating this week. I will be shocked if he doesn’t take the #1 spot next week, as he just announced his new album, opened pre-orders for it and released a new song that’s still near the top of the all-genre iTunes chart. He should make large gains in streaming and sales that will propel him to the top of the chart.

Dan + Shay jump up to #4 thanks to big gains in sales and streaming with their new single “Speechless.” I’m starting to think this duo could seriously challenge the Big 3 at the top. Keep in mind they aren’t even getting any help from airplay in their pop rating right now, which is quite impressive.

Jason Aldean remains in the top five, but will drop in the coming weeks with the loss of airplay. He should remain top ten though.

Thomas Rhett is going to drop thanks to losing airplay too. But his drop will be much more impactful, as I did not realize how much his pop rating relied on it. He’ll need his next single to be big if he wants to get back in the top five.

Luke Bryan tops the airplay chart this week to move up to #9, but like Rhett will see a big drop when he loses it.

Kenny Chesney lost his airplay and as a result falls out of the top ten. He should recover soon enough though and re-enter the top ten.

Cole Swindell continues to fall and his album sales will need to keep up to prevent the continuous free-falling.

Mitchell Tenpenny’s steady rise continues. With the amount of artists set to drop in front of him, he’s poised to make a big jump into the top ten in the coming weeks.

Old Dominion remains in the top 15 and are set to peak in airplay. But once that disappears they are in severe danger of dropping out of the top 25.

Dierks Bentley makes the biggest jump this week up to #16. His album sales once again balloon up and I don’t understand why. I’m not trying to be snarky nor am I commenting on the quality of his album. Like I legitimately don’t understand how it keeps fluctuating. If he can consistently keep it up, he can solidly remain in the top 15.

Carrie Underwood as expected makes a jump this week thanks to “Love Wins” topping the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart. She will see another boost next week since she released another song from her new album that is selling well and will see another boost the following week with the album dropping. I’ll be curious to see how high she can climb the chart.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 25

Maren Morris

Jon Pardi

Zac Brown Band

Blake Shelton

Carly Pearce

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.

Let me introduce you to The Ultimate Pulse of Country Music. This chart takes data from four Billboard country music charts: Digital Song Sales, Album Sales, Airplay and Streaming. I take the numbers from these charts, plug them into my formulas and methodology and it spits out a number I refer to as a Popularity Rating or Pop Rating for short. This determines the order of the top 25 rankings you’ll see below.

What I love about my chart is it’s simple, but fluid and dynamic. It accounts for all types of artists across the board, whether the artist is strong at radio (Chris Lane, Dustin Lynch) or album sales (Chris Stapleton). It allows independent and older artists to enter it too, as three of the four categories are ultimately controlled by you the listeners. Not to mention I feel it’s more inclusive of a variety of styles of country music and women artists. It’s a true real-time indicator of who is popular in country music with built-in natural weights that ensures fairness.

One last thing: I will of course be adding my own personal opinion to the chart with a rating of +1, 0 or -1 based on whether I think the artist’s contributions towards their pop rating are helping, hurting or not having an effect on the genre. Onto the chart!

Florida Georgia Line (#1 Digital Songs & #1 Album) -1

Luke Combs +1

Kane Brown (#1 Streaming) -1

Jason Aldean +1

Dan + Shay +1

Thomas Rhett (#1 Airplay) -1

Brett Young -1

Kenny Chesney +1

Chris Stapleton +1

Luke Bryan 0

Miranda Lambert 0

Cole Swindell +1

Bebe Rexha -1

Old Dominion 0

Mitchell Tenpenny -1

Sam Hunt 0

Eric Church +1

Dylan Scott -1

Russell Dickerson -1

Lauren Alaina 0

Chris Janson +1

Carrie Underwood 0

Dierks Bentley +1

Chris Young -1

Garth Brooks 0

The Ultimate Pulse: 0

Notes & Observations

New Arrivals: Chris Young, Garth Brooks

Gone: Keith Urban, Morgan Evans

The pulse improves three spots this week to 0. So country music has no pulse right now (this feels so appropriate). Keith Urban has steadily fallen down the charts ever since “Coming Home” went recurrent at radio. And Morgan Evans of course is a radio darling, who completely hinges on them to be relevant on this chart.

Florida Georgia Line easily remains #1 for a third straight week. I said last week they could be poised for a big week and they deliver an even bigger pop rating than I expected. They absolutely crush the rest of the field and hold a commanding lead thanks to big gains in sales of “Sittin’ Pretty” topping the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart. In addition Billboard did decide to count their four song bundle as an EP, so they get even more points in the album category to take the top title from Stapleton. When their album drops I can’t imagine what kind of crooked number they will put up. Once again the country music media looks absolutely stupid for trying to paint this duo as waning in relevancy.

Now if you’re fretting over this, there’s good news for you because Luke Combs is going to mount a serious challenge in the coming weeks to take the top spot. He had a great week himself and holds a nice lead in the #2 spot over the rest. He made gains in every category, including the biggest gain in airplay. His streaming and sales are extremely consistent. He’ll close the gap on Florida Georgia Line when their sales return to more normal levels for them and will challenge for #1 once they peak and go recurrent at radio. I think it’s become clear that Combs is one of the new superstars in country music.

Kane Brown moves to #3 this week and could be in the conversation for the top spot too if he releases a new song or improves his current digital song sales. His streaming numbers continue to beat everyone, although his label mate Luke Combs is in an almost dead-heat for the top streamer spot (Florida Georgia Line isn’t far behind either).

Jason Aldean continues to put up consistent numbers in every category and if his next single blows up, he might be able challenge for the top spot. But he’s more of a long-shot, as he’s currently getting blown out by the top three in streaming.

Dan + Shay, Thomas Rhett and Brett Young are all a solid ways behind the top four and have similar numbers to each other. Although it should be said neither the duo or Young have airplay helping them right now, while Rhett does. Expect Rhett to take a slight drop here soon with his airplay peaking this week, while the other two battle over the top five.

Kenny Chesney remains in the top ten, but next week should fall into the top 15 as he loses airplay and works his new single up the charts.

While Chris Stapleton does lose the top spot in the album category this week, he moves further into the top ten. His consistency continues to pay off. With increasing airplay and digital song sales, look for him to be a mainstay in the top ten for a while.

Cole Swindell takes a sharp drop this week, falling from #7 to #12. Unfortunately for him he couldn’t maintain a lot of the big bump he got from his album dropping. But thanks to weak competition on the chart, he will hang in the top 15 easily for the foreseeable future and maybe get back in the top ten when airplay peaks.

Last week Old Dominion gained points and lost positions on the chart. This week they lost points and gain positions on the chart. This is weirdly funny.

Mitchell Tenpenny jumps into the top 15 this week after jumping into the top 20 last week. He made big gains across all of his categories of strength and continues to gain steadily. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion he will make the top ten by the end of the year based on his current trajectory.

As expected, Eric Church takes a fall this week from #13 to #17. The big gain from “Heart Like a Wheel” was going to be temporary. But the good news it seems country radio likes “Desperate Man,” so he will continue to maintain a presence around the top 15 until his album drops.

Both Dylan Scott and Russell Dickerson maintain their presence in The Ultimate Pulse thanks to radio. Scott can’t even get “Hooked” up the digital song sales chart with the $0.69 trick. This is why I don’t get that riled up anymore over the radio darlings: most don’t do shit in other categories, which says a lot. They’re here and gone with the wind.

Carrie Underwood had an interesting week, as she takes a sizable drop down the chart. While she got a big bump in digital song sales thanks to pre-orders opening on her new album, she got a big drop in airplay thanks to “Cry Pretty” going recurrent. She will rebound next week with the big sales of her new single “Love Wins.”

Dierks Bentley lost a lot in the album sales category this week, but made solid gains in digital song sales and airplay. Also thanks to this tipping of points, his score changes to a +1 this week. For an explanation on this, see my comment in the comments sections from last week.

Chris Young makes his Ultimate Pulse debut this week thanks to radio. He continues to disappoint me with his music. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Finally, Garth Brooks makes his debut too this week thanks to streamhahahaha. Yeah I couldn’t finish that. Radio helped him make the chart. But since the only way to listen to his singles involves sending a carrier pigeon to aliens on Mars, I view him as having no impact.

Next Five Artists Knocking on the Door of the Top 25

Jon Pardi

Maren Morris

Zac Brown Band

Carly Pearce

Blake Shelton

Be sure to weigh in with your thoughts below and feel free to make predictions for next week’s rankings. Feel free to ask questions if you need any clarification on the methodology and rankings.